<p>Ahead of Opposition's meet to decide on Presidential candidate, Yashwant Sinha quit the Trinamool Congress on Tuesday.</p>.<p>The Congress and Left had insisted that he resign from the party if he were to be chosen as the presidential candidate from the Opposition side. </p>.<p>"I am grateful to Mamataji for the honour and prestige she bestowed on me in the TMC. Now a time has come when for a larger national cause I must step aside from the party to work for greater opposition unity. I am sure she approves of the step," he tweeted. </p>.<p>Sinha's name surfaced as Opposition scurried for a new consensus candidate – a “non-party” nominee – for the July 18 Presidential elections after Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Monday drove them into a crisis by declining their offer to fight the electoral battle.</p>.<p>Senior Opposition leaders like Sitaram Yechury and D Raja met at Sharad Pawar's residence this morning to fine-tune the strategy ahead of the Opposition meeting in the afternoon. Sinha's name is likely to be officially announced after the meeting.</p>.<p>Pawar had last evening spoken to senior leaders like Mamata Banerjee, K Chandrasekhar Rao, Arvind Kejriwal, Akhilesh Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav among others on the Presidential polls. All had promised to support a common candidate, including Sinha.</p>.<p><em><strong>More to follow...</strong></em></p>
<p>Ahead of Opposition's meet to decide on Presidential candidate, Yashwant Sinha quit the Trinamool Congress on Tuesday.</p>.<p>The Congress and Left had insisted that he resign from the party if he were to be chosen as the presidential candidate from the Opposition side. </p>.<p>"I am grateful to Mamataji for the honour and prestige she bestowed on me in the TMC. Now a time has come when for a larger national cause I must step aside from the party to work for greater opposition unity. I am sure she approves of the step," he tweeted. </p>.<p>Sinha's name surfaced as Opposition scurried for a new consensus candidate – a “non-party” nominee – for the July 18 Presidential elections after Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Monday drove them into a crisis by declining their offer to fight the electoral battle.</p>.<p>Senior Opposition leaders like Sitaram Yechury and D Raja met at Sharad Pawar's residence this morning to fine-tune the strategy ahead of the Opposition meeting in the afternoon. Sinha's name is likely to be officially announced after the meeting.</p>.<p>Pawar had last evening spoken to senior leaders like Mamata Banerjee, K Chandrasekhar Rao, Arvind Kejriwal, Akhilesh Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav among others on the Presidential polls. All had promised to support a common candidate, including Sinha.</p>.<p><em><strong>More to follow...</strong></em></p>